At a recent press conference, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie applauded the expansion of the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons program (NJ-STEP). The privately funded program offers New Jersey inmates the opportunity to complete free college courses and credits, and will expand to serve 2,000 inmates by 2018. This move is the latest in a series made by the state to improve services for inmates and reduce recidivism.

While many prisons are implementing new methods of rehabilitation such as work-hire programs and various educational opportunities, others are looking into alternative options in order to help inmates with the rehab process. Prison officials at Jamesville Correctional Facility in Onondaga County are currently planning to incorporate a program that will allow inmates to interact with and help train stray dogs.